What's up with your plant?

When your plant needs water, it will post to Twitter or call you!

Nails function as the soil moisture probes. The rest of the unit requires greater skills because it's a Make project that requires a number of parts, a small breadboard, power supply, ethernet and USB cables, downloading code... but what's a little soldering when your plant will be twittering away for many years to come?

Botanicalls, via Webware.

Here comes the Robo-Builder

Japan's Nagayo University has developed an exo-robot to help lift panels for ceilings. The Wearable Robot for Assisting Carpentry Workers [PDF] takes the strain from nailing ceiling panels in place.

The news item reports, "This particular task takes extreme brute force... not only great exertion of strength... inherently counter-human physiognomy... creating varying degrees of muscle fatigue in carpentry workers."

The four phases of this type of carpentry work require multiple over-the-head manual tasks:

1. Lifting up of the board
2. Setting the board with both hands in the proper plane
3. Support the board with one hand and fix the screws
4. Leave the board and fix the screws with one hand

The researchers found that steps 2 and 3 cause most fatigue in carpentry. [Raw Feed and Physorg]

Hang that picture

This might be a classic for the "I shoulda thought of that" department. They're already saying it's a genius product.

Picture Placer is simple, precise, and affordable and removes the hassle from the picture-hanging process.

The device easily makes its mark for a nail or hanger. About $8.00

Radio tag tools

Industry will deliver more machine to machine conversations than human communication soon as sensors begin to populate our world. RFID systems are appearing in distribution centers to shopping carts and now, pickup trucks.

For example, TouchMagic and Ford are offering an RFID system to track tools.

Fifth generation RFID readers and RFID tags are attached to tools or equipment you want to track. Place the tools in the truck or van and use the Tool Link system to scan them. The system identifies each tag, and you can type in the name of the item. Once the inventory is complete, the system can track the items you tagged whenever they are in the truck, and alert you if they are missing.

Forest Fire Sprinkler System

Australia's Calair Pipe Systems makes a variety of nozzles for outside or external sprinklers to protect homes and buildings from wildfire. Their Fire-Pro System includes heat engineered polymer pipe, nozzles and activation sensors.

The intense heat from a burning forest may overwhelm any system, but risk is usually from embers or proximity vegetation. An automatic sprinkler system might be the breakthrough homeowners are looking for.